Like Adafruit's 16x32 RGB Matrix panel? Want to have it glowing fast? This pack comes with a panel, a Nootropic's Arduino-compatible backpack and a power supply so you can integrate the panel easily to your project and keep it compact.

The RGB Matrix Backpack is a small board that connects to the back of the Adafruit 16x32 RGB LED Matrix Panel and is a very convenient way to control this awesome panel. The board is simply a small Arduino. You can easily program the board using the Arduino IDE. As you can see from the video below, it's possible to create great color animations, completely in Arduino programming! Kit comes unassembled, some light soldering is required but its nothing hard and you should be able to do it in 15 minutes even if you're a beginner.

To program the board, you'll need an FTDI cable or FTDI friend. Or you can program the ATMega328 chip using your Arduino board and move the chip to the RGB Matrix Backpack for testing.

The board snaps onto the back of the panel and provides power to the panel through the terminal block connections. The board should be powered by a 5V regulated power adapter that can deliver up to 2A.

Features:

A 8x2 female header on the back of the board allows this backpack board to simply snap onto the back of the matrix panel.

2.1mm power jack for a regulated 5V power supply. The 5V supply should be able to deliver 2A of current to meet the demands of the matrix panel. Adafruit strongly recommend this 5V regulated power supply for use with the matrix panel. The terminal block is used to provide power to the RGB matrix panel.

The 6-pin programming header makes it easy to program the board using the Arduino IDE and a cable or adapter like an FTDI cable or FTDI friend

A small tactile button can be used as an input to your Arduino program. It is connected to Arduino pin 10. To use the button, the setup() function in your program should call pinMode(10, INPUT); digitalWrite(10, HIGH);. The button is read by calling digitalRead(10).

To program the backpack board, you use it just like an Arduino. The board type to select in the Arduino IDE is "Aruino Uno". You need to connect an FTDI cable or FTDI friend.

Adafruit provides Arduino libraries for controlling the RGB Matrix Panel. You can download the libraries and learn how to use them on Adafruit's matrix tutorial page. You don't have to worry about any of the complex wiring -- just skip down to the sections "Test example code" and "Library".

The ATmega328 chip comes preloaded with the animation shown in the video above. To change the demo program download the sketch here. Make sure you've installed the Adafruit libraries correctly. Compile the sketch and upload it to your board.

Documentation and Resources:

Product Comments

Your comment/question:

Exact shipping can be calculated on the view cart page (no login required).

We deliver Australia-wide with these options:

$3 for Small Items (3-7 days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)

$6.95 for Standard Post (2-4 days, tracked)

$8.95 for Express Post (Overnight for Australia Post Next Day Network, tracked)

Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (only after we email you to notify your order is ready)

International Orders - the following rates are for New Zealand and will vary for other countries:

$11.49 for Pack and Track (3+ days, tracked)

$16.50 for Express International (2-5 days, tracked)

If you order lots of gear, the postage amount might increment based on the weight of your order.

Our physical address:

Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove ParadeAdamstownNSW, 2289Australia

Please checkout our customer service page if you have other frequently asked questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.